Launched SCUPPERS for Sea Trials. Watertight integrity was 100 percent, no leaks from any of the 3 different seams we tried, THIXO, PL Subfloor and RustOleum soaked cloth. One positive aspect of the punt design was the ability to step in directly from the shore and walk to towards the stern, which lifted the bow, and from there I was able to punt pole off of the beach.
Found out real fast that the lightweight punt, with her narrow beam, is very twitchy side to side when an adult is standing. Standing up for an extended period would be a workout, and also the punt pole was too long, it created an even higher moment arm above the lateral center of balance. So I switched over quickly to secondary propulsion mode of paddle. She floats well on her lines with about 6 inches of freeboard and was easy to control with a paddle. The punt pole could also be used as a double paddle, not very efficient but it did move the boat around.
I checked balance fore and aft, and with just one person and no cargo it would be possible to submerge a corner. Keeping a wide stance did help with lateral stability but it was hard to change positions unless I shuffled. The punt also needs a skeg to help with directional control.
Overall SCUPPERS was an easy build with locally available materials, 4 leisurely weekends. She weighs in at 60 ponds and will fit in a pickup bed, so she'd be a fun little boat for kids to mess about in on the shoreline under adult supervision. We envision she'd be tied to the shore and kids would spend most of the day dumping sand in her bilge.
One question we get asked is how we know which end is which? As it turned out, I didn't know, most of the Sea Trial was conducted stern first. The bow is tucked up just a little more than the stern and she would have beached even easier. In the photos above she is beached stern first.
We took steps to help identify bow and stern.
Looking for some short oars now, we have oarlocks standing by. She also needs some handling lines, maybe a cleat or two.
No comments:
Post a Comment